152 AHoKKJINAL POTTKKY dF KASTEKN UNITED STATES [kth.ann.20 



Then' is iiirtrkcd uiiil'onnity in the wiire of tliou.siuuls of .site.s .sciit- 

 tered owv the entii-e tidewater country, iin area nearly iiO.OtiU .s(juare 

 miles in extent. The only distinction worth noting is that existing 

 between the coninioner variety of village-site ware and a coarser form 

 found nearly everywhere associated with the ordinary variety. l)ut pre- 

 vailing over it in the great oyster-shell deposits. This latter ware cor- 

 responds to the net-marked pottery found so plentifully on the Yadkin 

 in North Carolina, illustrated in preceding- plates. In the Ch(>sapeake 

 country this pottery is not exclusively net-marked, other textile mate- 

 rials having been used. Whether or not this ware belonged to a dis- 

 tinct people dwelling at times in the region or whether it is a variety 

 due to differences in function merely can not yet l)e fully determined, 

 although analogies with the ])r(>vailing style are so marked that the 

 theory of separate peoples linds little support. 



MODERN PASITJNJCF.Y WARE 



Before we pa.ss on to the ware of ])articular localities it may be 

 mentioned that while the art practiced by the trilies of (his province 

 when first visited by the Knglish colonists was soon practically aban- 

 doned, at least one comuumity, a remnant of the Panuuikey Indians, 

 residing t)n their reservation on the Pamutikey river adjoining King 

 William county, Virginia, was practicing a degenerate form of it as 

 late as 1878. At about that time Dr Dalyrimple, of Baltimore, visited 

 these people and made collections of their ware, munerous specinuuis 

 of which are now preserved in the National ^Museum. A few of the 

 vases then gathered are shown in ]ilate cxxxn i. 



Professor O. T. ^lason. referring to the work of Dr Dalyrimple, 

 remarks that these jjeojjle are "a nuseral)le half-breed remnant of the 

 once powerful Vii'ginia tribes. The most interesting feature of tlieir 

 present condition is the preservation of their ancient modes of making 

 potteiT. It will ])e news to some that the shells are calcined liefore 

 mixing with the clay, and that at least one-thiid of the compound is 

 triturated shell."" 



The modeling of these vessels is rude, though the surfaces are neatly 

 polished. They are very slightly l>aked. and the light-gray surface is 

 mottled with clouds of black. The jxiste lacks coherency, and several 

 of the specimens have crumbled and fallen to pieces on the shelves, 

 probably as a result of the slaking of the shell particles. Ornament 

 is confined to slight crimping and notching t)f the rim margins. None 

 of the pieces l)ear evidence of u.se, and it seems ])rol)al)le that in recent 

 years the art has been practiced soleh' or largely to su2)ply the demands 

 of curiositv hunters. The very marked defects of manufacture and 

 the (-rudeness of shape suggest the idea that possil)ly the potters were 



"iMa.'^tn. OtisT.. ,\nthr(ipoloj;i('nl iiew.s, in American Naturalist, Boston, 1S77, vol. .\i, p.6-.^7. 



